Page 28 - Revised Unified Sports Curriculum electronic version Rev. 8.1_2

UNIFIED ATHLETICS UNIT

HISTORY/ENVIRONMENT/CULTURAL INFLUENCES

WHEN: 776 B.C.

WHERE: Greece

WHO: Started with one event, the Stade (Sprint) Race

ORIGINAL GAME:
 In 1849 in England, The Royal Military Academy organized their first track and field meet.
st
 The 1 International Special Olympics Summer Games were held in Soldier Field in Chicago,
Illinois where 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities from 26 U.S. States and Canada
compete in track and field and swimming on July 19-20, 1968.
 Special Olympics Arizona was officially started in 1975, Phoenix, Arizona.
 Unified Sports® introduced to United States in mid-1980s, a major focus in Arizona in 2008.

WHAT IS UNIFIED SPORTS®?
 Unified Sports® is a program which combines athletes with and without intellectual disabilities
to form sports teams for training and competition.
 Unified Sports® dramatically increase inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities in to the
community by breaking down historical barriers which kept these people apart.
 An estimated 50,000 athletes now participate worldwide in Unified Sports® programs in
cooperation with schools, civic association, Parks and Recreation departments, and other
community sports organizations.
 Unified Sports® is a program endorsed and developed by Special Olympics International.
 Unified Sports® presently includes athletics, swimming, basketball, bocce, bowling,
cheerleading, flag football, floor ball, badminton, golf, kayaking, soccer, softball, tennis and
volleyball with several other sports undergoing field testing.

HISTORY OF SPECIAL OLYMPICS UNIFIED SPORTS®
 The concept of Unified Sports®, originally called “Integrated Sports,” was brought to the
attention of Special Olympics Founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver at the 1983 Special Olympics
National Conference in Park City, Utah.
 The idea was generated through Special Olympics Massachusetts (SOMA) due to changes
occurring in the field of intellectual disabilities. Most of the agency director and leadership of
this period were interested in programs putting people with intellectual disabilities together with
people without disabilities. Social integration was the buzzword of that time period. It was in
this climate SOMA created an integrated softball tournament.
 Luckily for Special Olympics, Eunice Kennedy Shriver approved further research. The name
was changed from “Integrated Sports” to “Unified Sports®” and in 1989 she announced to the
world the endorsement of this new program.

Special Olympics Arizona (SOAZ) 1 06.01.2011
Permission from PUSD #11